"Cinna? You're alright, right?"
Cinna turned back, and smiled at him. "Don't worry, Lover Boy! Its just that... I am reminded of Finnick." He said, tightening his grip on the handle of the camera in his hands. He clicked a picture of the view from our balcony and placed his hand on Peeta's shoulders.
Peeta tried to turn towards me, but, Cinna's words grabbed his attention.
"Hey Lover Boy! I'll leave in a minute or two! I don't like invading anybody's privacy!"
"No! Not at all like that!" I added. He looked at me with his eyes not conveying any information, as usual. Why is this man so secretive?
But, I could feel my cheeks go hot. Despite being a forty year old woman, I felt like the younger Katniss Everdeen I was, the face of the rebellion. And, Cinna referring to Peeta as 'Lover Boy' made me forget the fact that we were married and have two children.
"Cinna! You didn't tell us anything about your after life?" Peeta asked, looking at him deeply. I tried to study his face. I didn't notice much change of expressions,but, his face was darkened, like it was something he wished he could forget but never could. Or, did his expressions imply that he didn't know what Peeta was referring to?
"What do you mean?"
His voice was as calm as it usually was, but, he tensed a bit. There was a sudden change in his body language and his lips were trembling. Very lightly, though. If you didn't know Cinna very well, you wouldn't've guessed that he was tensed. He was staring at the ground, as if searching for something.
"How you escaped from the Capitol's hands?" Peeta expanded.
"I mean... Portia..." I added, and he clucked his tongue, interrupting me.
"That, is something I swore to myself I'd never reveal." He said, his face as demure as the grim.
Then, suddenly, he transformed into a gay, lively man. And that side was something we never saw.
"But-"
"Don't we have some places to see?! Even I have to go and buy some clothes for you!" He said, suddenly squealing. "The ladies! They have to be the talk of the day!" He said. Peeta looked at me, clearly not convinced with his reply. I slightly nodded my head, to appease him for the moment.
"Sure, Cinna. " I mumbled. He slipped the camera in his pocket and walked out of the room.
"What's wrong with him?! He was never like that!" Peeta said, as we watched him go out.
I nodded; Something indeed was weird with him. Cinna never spoke to us like that. He was very neutral. Never squealed.
"Peeta! We can't conclude anything this soon. He was abducted by the Capitol. A lot of time has passed. Any man would change."
Peeta looked at me quizzically. When I stared back at him, he sighed.
"Maybe you are correct, Katniss. We can't judge him on this weird behaviour." Peeta said, walking towards the bed.
"Where were we?! " He asked, ensconcing himself on the bed. He grabbed the plate on the shelf beside the bed and tasted the content of the platter.
"Its magical. How these people make wonders with sea animals!" He said, licking his fingers. "Yeah... Everlark, right?"
"Yeah. Our ship." I replied. He patted on the bed, asking me to come sit beside him. When I did, he placed his hands on my shoulder, and squeezed it.
"Hey! Cinna is alright! Like you said, maybe the harsh situations rendered him so!"
I nodded my head. He smiled and offered me the plate.
"Prim would love this! I wonder what the name of the dish is!"
I nodded my head again, helping myself with a was trying to make a casual conversation about random things. But, I wasn't paying attention to him. What must've happened in the meanwhile?!
How did Cinna lead his life all these years?!
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"Now, Maxy!" I sighed. "What's bothering you?"
He didn't reply- I should've known that I was getting stuck up with a moody guy for the rest of my life. What if my children become as moody as this fellow?
We were seated on the bed in my room, or rather, were sprawled on the bed, beside each other. These days we hardly got time to spend with each other. Looking at the situation, and the silence that prevailed in our room, I thought he would show me his romantic side,the actual reason I fell for him. It looks like today I'll have to put up with his moody side. Oh Good Lord!
"Triton Maximus Odair!" I called him. I tried to catch him by his waist and pull him towards me, but, thanks to his power, I couldn't move him by an inch. He didn't even respond to the stimulus provided by me.
"What, darling?"
"What happened to you?" I sighed, giving up.
"Well... Thanks to these people, we aren't getting enough time together!" He wailed.
"Cmon! We will get enough time together after marriage, right?"
"I don't know! I would love it if we could spend more time together!"
Hopeless, men are.
I crawled a bit towards his head and kissed him on his forehead. He smiled a bit, only for a second and re assumed the scowl on his face. Despite the scowl, he looked perfect. Like a perfect piece sculpted by thousands of skilled hands.
"You know the schedule, right?! We have to take the Mellarks for a trip. A brief trip around this place."
He sighed, relieved. He looked so... I don't know... Angelic? Divine? Godly? I felt like smothering him with kisses for eternity... To make sure I acquire at least a billionth part of his beauty. Am I exaggerating? I don't know... When you fall in love, the beauty of your lover gets maximized.
"That's actually better. Prim is just fun to hang around with. That girl is so much unlike other girls of her age... Its a huge relief to spend time with her!"
I was staring at him. God! Why am I acting like a love-struck woman? But, if there was one thing I could never resist, its him. I am madly, madly in love with this fellow. He narrowed his eyes at me, as he sensed my pair of eyes studying each and every part of his perfect face. His eyes... I was never able to distract myself from those sea-green eyes.
"What?"
"Your eyes, love. They have enchanted me."
"Enough!" He snapped. He slowly moved his hand towards mine and grasped it hard. He inched closer towards me, to kiss me on my lips. I closed my eyes, my breath becoming shorter.
'Finally' I thought to myself. I think I heard him say, "Suzanne Collins... I love you."
Was I imagining things?
Suddenly, maidenly modesty overtook me, creating within me a conflict - should I stop him with the kiss and remind him that we have to take the Mellarks for a trip? Or should I let time unravel what it had in hold for me? Should I intervene in the middle and cut it off or deepen it, that might lead to something else? With probably thousands of spoons of adrenaline getting released in my body, there was a huge debate going on in my brain, along with the burning desire to let him do whatever he wanted to.
But, when nothing happened, I opened my eyes, realising the tension I felt wasn't worth it.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Zeke grinning at me, with a deeply blushing Max beside him.
Wow! What an unexpected twist!
What an embarrassing situation!
"Sorry!" He said. Zeke put on a very innocent expression, but, he was mocking us. Max looked like he was about to pass out and the amount of effort it took him to not to break down was clearly visible. As much as a brave man he was, Max was very shy. And, when he did something embarrassing, well... Things wouldn't be good.
Uhhh! How embarrassing!
I quickly got up, and began to straighten my top.
"What for?" Max asked. "We werent doing anything as you think "
"How do you know what I think?" Zeke asked and winked at me.
"Naughty boy!" Max mumbled, now looking at the ground.
"What do you want?" I asked, irritated. He wasn't even a bit sorry for causing inconvenience to us.
"Sissy... Sorry for interrupting your romance! But... You have something called 'night' s for this. We have to go out!"
It was obvious he wasn't sorry! And... Why can't he shut his mouth?! He's making it damn weird for Max.
Max dropped his jaw, shocked by his vocabulary.
Max and Zeke are completely different. While Max was more of an introvert, opening up to only a particular type of people, Zeke Henry Collins, my brother was damn gregarious. He would blurt out whatever came to his mind, without giving much importance to the consequences, while Max paid more importance to the receiver. Obviously, what one person did would seem outrageous and funny to the other.
"You never come out with us!" I observed, trying to change the topic.
"I have my own interests!" He said and walked out of the room.
"Interests?" Max asked.
"Primrose Mellark." I said. Max stated at me in disbelief.
"What?" Max asked, shocked.
"Yeah. He somewhat likes her."
"Oh Good Lord! I hope he doesn't irritate her in any way!"
"Yeah." I said.
"We have a mission ahead of us. To make sure Zeke doesn't try to make a move on Prim. We are going to make sure. OK?"
"Really?" I asked him. What's wrong? They're just... Teenagers! I am sure Prim wouldn't mind if Zeke tried to make a move on her. Besides, it would be really hard to resist him. Zeke is a play boy. She would have fun.
I told him what I thought.
"No! I mean... Prim is different. Don't tell her I told you this, but, she's very emotional. The last thing she needs is a boy who tells her he loves her just to pass time!"
"You act like you've known her for decades!"
"I visited them twice, Su. " he said. He sounded pretty serious.
I walked towards him and quickly brushed my lips against his cold, poky lips.
"As you say, my lord!"
He smiled, and kissed back.